• Dinh Y

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  • White Vegetarian
Vietnamese

Serves rice and noodle dishes, pastries, plus daily buffet plate and dinner specials. Uses MSG. There is a laneway to left of shop where motorbikes can be parked. Entrance is off this laneway. Open Mon-Sun 6:30am-9:00pm.


Venue map for Dinh Y
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11 Reviews

First Review by raphalla

RoryMcarthur

Points +50

Vegan
11 Jul 2019

Pretty good

Had the vegan fish fried rice. Was nice but could barely taste the fish. Think I ordered the wrong thing though and the menu is massive so other stuff is likely better. Spring rolls were fantastic though.

Ruderies16

Points +349

Vegan
12 Mar 2017

Hilariously hectic

The food here is good - really tasty and not too greasy. Had some lovely mixed rice dish which was kind of baked rather than fried (it tasted like that, anyway) with mock fish, and the water spinach was v.tasty too. The service was hilarious, though: although a waiter came to us as soon as we came in, about 25 minutes after ordering our food, he came back over and asked us if we'd like to order something. Haha - he was so sweet and smiley and it was totally fine to wait (and actually worth it), but don't come here if you're in a hurry or likely to have a sense of humour failure if you have to wait for a while! (Or make sure you've had a couple of beers, in which case everything will seem hilarious.) Also, it's not vegan, despite it saying that on the menu: whilst there are plenty of vegan dishes, they do serve egg...

Updated from previous review on 2017-03-12

Pros: Yummy food, Friendly staff, Entertaining experience

Cons: Sloooooow service, Over-stretched staff, Not vegan

Without_Cruelty_Blog

Points +713

Vegan
21 Nov 2016

Cheap and Tasty

I have been here twice in two days as it is very close to my hotel. It is a large restaurant with lots of seating and an extensive menu written in both Vietnamese and English.
They do different dishes at different times including ban mi sandwiches for breakfast and dinner specials.

Both times I wanted the Fried Noodles with Beef but both times they were out. Sad face. Instead I ordered the mushroom and pork roll clay pot (which comes under sautéed dishes) and the rice with tofu skin. Both were very tasty and the portions are enormous.

Price wise they are very reasonable, it's no more than 50,000 Dong for a main dish and you can grab an iced tea for 2,000.

The service is a little slow and trying to make eye contact with the waiters is almost impossible. Overall this is a great veggie restaurant and as it's only 3 minutes away I'm sure I'll be returning.

Pros: Location, Price, Great Iced Tea

Cons: Slow Service, They run out of food quickly

Jeane

Points +314

Vegan
23 May 2014

Good enough

Big room, lot of place which is rare in HCMC for this kind of restaurant.
Extensive menu in Vietnamese and English. Cheap price. Special daily dish but served only from 3 pm.
I had the dish of the day, a Campuchia bun, that was good and tasty (32.000 vnd) with a salted plump drink (12.000 vnd).
Updated from previous review on Friday May 23, 2014

Pros: Easy to find, location, cheap price

procrastinasian

Points +273

Vegan
16 May 2012

Super cheap, fast

This place opens at 7 for breakfast, which is great if you want to get an early start on the day. It was an easy walk from the central backpacker area.

We ordered 5 banh mi (two for breakfast and three to go) and a beef ball vermicelli soup, and it came to under $3.50 for everything. Probably the cheapest meal we had on our trip, which is saying something. The banh mi were maybe the best we'd had on our trip, though be aware that they have a ton of cilantro and garlic in them.

Zero English is spoken, but most of the menu items have translations. We tried to order a couple of different kinds of banh mi (three were listed on the menu), but were told that only one type was available.

Food came so fast that my noodles weren't completely soft when the bowl made it to the table (they softened up in a couple of minutes).

The staff weren't particularly friendly, but weren't unfriendly either, just a little brusque.

Pros: CHEAP, Convenient location

Cons: No ambience, Brusque staff

ViolaineB

Points +111

Raw
25 Apr 2012

Ok if you like Mock meat!

The food was ok. I'm not that positive about mock meat generally, but for those who trust it, go for it!
I haven't had the chance to have fresh spring rolls that day as I ate there around 3pm, they have a different menu from 3pm, different one for lunchtime, the menu is a bit confusing, not easy to read, but if you take your time and make it clear that you are deciding to the waiter, as he will stay next to you until you make a decision (slightly pressurising!) unless it's super busy... The food tasted good, overall. Not too much sugar in sauces, which, believe me, is a rare thing in Saigon.... It felt generally healthy eating there...
Careful, if you order a juice though, they add sugar to all drinks in Vietnam, you need to say you do not want sugar in everything... and they added some in Dinh Y, so beware! (why would you add sugar in an orange juice, I ask you?)
Also, you're better off arriving there with clean hands as the toilet area in there is absolutely repulsive.

Pros: ok food, not as sugary as other places, relatively healthy-ish

Cons: Dodgy toilets and sink to wash hands, Staff a bit unfriendly

Egg But No Bacon

Points +58

Vegetarian
07 Apr 2009

Medium

Not sure about this place really. It is ok. Staff friendly, cool place,a bit like a retro staff canteen, but we didn't think the food was up to much. One dish noodles were undercooked, another just tasted odd, too many ingredients, too much going on.

They do do really tasty snacks on the stall outside though. There are small bags of some squishy pink things dotted with pepper which come with bits of basil, no idea what they actually are, but it's maybe worth a trip just to try them.

Pros: good snacks, big portions

Cons: not the best noodle soup, slightly more expensive than normal

vegan_simon

Points +2570

Vegan
30 Dec 2008

nothing special, but worth a look

easy to find: opposite the markets. Nothing out of the ordinary (as is most food in Saigon it seems). cheap and cheerful. I think much of the take-away food in the servery in the entrance alley looked better than what we ordered off the menu!

Merciless666

Points +195

Vegan
05 Jun 2008

Good place for cheap food.

i had difficulties finding the place, but it was worth searching.
they have changing daily menues, what i liked most off it.
check it out, if you're arround their hood.

Pros: very central, changing menues, friendly

JohnnySensible

Points +7596

Herbivore
17 May 2007

Simple nutritious food- low priced - sweet people

Visit regularly when you are in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Landmark (1) the "Blind Massage Institute" - Dinh Y is just to your left as you face the entrance. Landmark (2) Nguyen Thai Binh market - Dinh Y is opposite the back side of the open air market. Run by "Cao Dai" people (ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Dai or any books on Kim Phuc "the girl in the picture" to know about Cao Daism)- low, low prices - if you do not speak the language just point to what you like on the buffet counter. Super friendly staff. So many students from poor families especially from the South of Viet Nam rely on Dinh Y for their sustenance. Select your food & eat in peace - no trips - no hassles - no "booksellers". Reminds me a little of Hare Krishna Sunday Feast program's in the 70's - perhaps they will inspire / produce another "Steve Jobs"!

Pros: Good & clean food, Low, low prices, No hustlers / no beggars

Cons: MSG in the sauces

raphalla

Points +619

Vegetarian
04 May 2007

OK

It is situated within the walking distance from the centre of backpackers' area.
i like the coffee, not as strong but a bit too sweet. The asparagus was not the green asparagus that i expected, but the kind of white bamboo root.
Spring roll serves after 5pm.
This was the cheapest meal i got when i was in Saigon.

Pros: Cheap, Friendly staff

Cons: Cleanliness




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